Nathan Marchand's Blog

Be That Domino: Charlie Kirk and the Threat to Civil Discourse

I was wandering an Aldi while making an Instacart run when Chris, one of my co-hosts on Henshin Power V3, sent me and my other co-host, Jake, a text in a group chat that said Charlie Kirk had been shot by a sniper. I briefly checked internet news for confirmation and immediately turned on the TuneIn Radio app to listen to local news and talk radio station WOWO for live updates. I listened in real time as the story unfolded, with some reports claiming Kirk was alive but in critical condition, until about an hour later when he was decalred dead at the young age of 31.

He had a family. A wife and two kids, ages 1 and 3.

Thousands of other people—including his wife—at the event saw it happen. And many, many more on a livestream.

I’m not here to talk about Charlie Kirk himself. I was aware of him and his organization, Turning Point USA, and had seen some of his videos, but I wasn’t one of his subscribers or fans.

What I am here to discuss is this assassination’s broader implications and effects.

Let me say this upfront: I’m a conservative. I believe in the principles outlined in the U.S. Constitution. The most important of these, which is why it’s listed at the top of the document, is the First Amendment. It says:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. (Emphasis mine)

Regardless of what you thought of Charlie Kirk, one thing everyone can agree on is he was shot and killed for articulating his beliefs.

That’s not how actual discourse works.

Murder is murder.

The counter for speech you disagree with—including “hate speech”—isn’t violence. It’s more speech.

The Founding Fathers knew the people needed to talk back to their government and hash out ideas in the public square in order to sift out the bad ones and discover the good ones. The First Amendment acknowledges that citizens have the ability to, as liberals are fond of saying, speak truth to power. Free and open discourse is the bedrock of the American politic.

At least it was.

We live in a time where speech is equated to violence and anyone who disagrees with someone is labeled things like “fascist” and “Nazi” to the point where those words, once double-edged swords of meaning, are now the blunt knives of ignorance. All many people know is these terms are all but synonyms for “evil,” and if the people who don’t think like them are evil, evil must be met with force.

Deadly force, if necessary.

But speech isn’t violence.

Violence is violence.

Replying to an argument with a fist, club, bullet, or (insert weapon here) is simply the most extreme version of the ad hominem fallacy. This is the surest sign that someone has lost the argument and has no counterpoints. And when one resorts to violence, they’re asking for violence in return. Martin Luther King Jr. said:

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy, instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

If violence can be justified by one side, it can be justified by the other. Both sides will attack and kill one another in an endless loop like a bad song forever playing on repeat.

Some are reveling in the murder of Charlie Kirk. Some have even published lists of other targets.

This is a recipe for Civil War II.

If that happens, someone somewhere will have a bullet with your name on it, regardless of how “moral” or “correct” your views are. And someday, that bullet might find its way to you when an enemy whose name you never knew finds you on the street as others cheer for your death. As C.S. Lewis wrote in The Weight of Glory:

A sick society must think much about politics, as a sick man must think much about his digestion: to ignore the subject may be fatal cowardice for the one as for the other. But if either comes to regard it as the natural food of the mind–if either forgets that we think of such things only in order to be able to think of something else–then what was undertaken for the sake of health has become itself a new and deadly disease.

But the cycle can be broken.

Maybe I’m a naive optimist, but I don’t believe we’ve reached the American equivalent of the fall of the Roman Republic. Why? I’m a student of history. I didn’t live through the 1960s, but I know from my studies that it was a tumultuous time full of clashing ideologies and many high-profile assassinations, including President Kennedy’s. But the country survived. Scarred but alive.

We can get back to countering words with words in passionate debate again. In fact, we already have. Over the weekend, thousands gathered at Charlie Kirk’s hometown of Arlington Heights, a suburb of Chicago, for a vigil in his honor. They sang “Amazing Grace” and “God Bless America” and chanted “USA! USA! USA!” There was no violence. In fact, in the week since Kirk’s assassination, there hasn’t been any retaliatory attacks. It’s a far cry from 2020’s “Summer of Love,” as a point of comparison. This can and should be our model going forward.

I mentioned the fear of another Civil War. Even it does come to that, there is hope. America survived the first one. That era of history is even called Reconstruction. It was long and hard, but the country recovered. Ironically, it took President Lincoln’s assassination to help foster that. What was intended for evil—as retaliation for the defeat of the Confederacy—became a catalyst for good. Such is the will of God.

Solomon, who I believe is the author of Ecclesiastes, wrote, “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9 ESV). That’s true of human nature. Hatred and violence are nothing new. But as we saw with the Arlington Heights crowd, so are temperance and love. It only takes one domino to stand up to keep the rest from falling.

Be that domino.

A Review of ‘Kaiju Unleashed’ by Shawn Pryor

I said on the air when I interviewed Shawn Pryor that I would write a review of his book Kaiju Unleashed for Kaiju United, but then I discovered they’d already published a review. So, I’m instead going to publish my review here. The book will be cited in a future episode of MIFV, so it fits with my decision to write podcast book reviews. However, I’m making this one public since I originally intended to post a public review on KU.

Anyway…

Kaiju Unleashed: An Illustrated Guide to the World of Strange Beasts is a coffee table book chock full of information and images pertaining to tokusatsu’s heaviest hitters and then some. You’ll find chapters dedicated to Godzilla, Kong, Gamera, and Ultraman but also chapters about outliers like Daimajin and kaiju from countries outside of Japan. The information is by no means extensive, as each chapter could easily be expanded into entire books (and in some cases, that’s happened). However, Pryor dedicates pages to information that is rarely mentioned in the fandom, such as listing all the suit actors who’ve played Godzilla (including those in the Godzilla Fes short films) and not just mainstays like Haruo Nakajima and Kenpachiro Satsuma. Pryor aims to make each chapter, as packed as each one is, to be a primer to get readers interested in the media or as a starting point for further research. This is why he includes a bibliography in the back of the book, which gets a thumbs up from this former graduate student.

Surprisingly, Pryor doesn’t stop at movies. He has chapters on prose books and comic books, which are typically ignored in tomes like this. Given that Pryor has extensive experience with comics, it’s no surprise he would include them. It’s in this chapter where I learned the most and discovered a few titles to track down.

Given the wide breadth of Pryor’s research, the book understandably gets some details wrong. These are never egregious, but they may annoy hardcore fans. For example, Pryor casually mentions that 1955’s Godzilla Raids Again, the first sequel to Gojira (1954), was directed by Motoyoshi Oda but later says that 1966’s Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (aka Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster) was the first G-film not directed by Ishiro Honda. A few of the image captions are also incorrect, labeling them from the wrong movies. Given that the primary audience for this book is new fans, it would behoove them to fact check everything they read in this book, but that’s a generally good rule of thumb, anyway.

All that being said, the book’s greatest strength is its presentation. It’s laid out like a magazine with eye-popping colors, multiple sidebars, and text boxes. No two pages look exactly alike, making each page turn a new surprise. The fonts are always legible and the layouts are rarely daunting. The sheer volume of images, which is the biggest sticking point when it comes to licensing, is almost overwhelming. They add even more color and context to what’s being discussed.

Kaiju Unleashed is a great “gateway” to the wide world of kaiju and tokusatsu for new fans, but it may have a surprise or three to offer fandom veterans. Either way, it’s a colorful new addition to any kaiju lover’s bookshelf.

Score: 8/10

But I Digress…, #57 – James Santana, Writer of Nebulon: Knight of Justice #1 (NOW ON KICKSTARTER!)

In this MASSIVE crossover with all of Nathan’s YouTube channels, he sits down to interview James Santana (again), but this time to discuss James’s first full-length tokusatsu-inspired comic book, Nebulon: Knight of Justice #1.

Support Nebulon on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1935627238/nebulon-knight-of-justice-1-24-page-tokusatsu-comic

My Writing Goals for the Next Decade

I hesitate to make these public, because I know my readers (and friends) will hold me accountable. That’s some serious pressure. But perhaps I not only need that, I need to let all of you know what I hope to accomplish for the next decade.

I’ve started a lot of series and books that I have yet to finish. My goal is to complete those. To that end, here’s what you can expect from me:

Two sequels to Destroyer , making it a trilogy. Working titles: Apollyon: Body and Soul and Apollyon: Haunted Legacy. These are being written by only me, but I am getting input from my co-authors on the first book.A sequel and “midquel” for Pandora’s Box . I started the sequel, which has the working title of Hope’s War, several years ago and need to finish it. I also have an idea for a “midquel” (i.e. it takes place during the first book) that is from Overlord Erebus’ perspective. It’ll be something of an origin story for him. He was only in a few chapters, so I figured he should have a chance to shine.Books 2-5 of The (Mis)Adventures of George Francis. As in, sequels to Ninjas and Talking Trees . I’ve been sitting on ideas for more of these books for a long time. I even led with Ninjas being labeled “book 1.” It’s time to make good on that promise. As part of that, I’ll be revising book one for republication. It won’t be a George Lucas-level revision, but there are some typos in it that need addressed, and I think some of the humor hasn’t aged as well as I’d like.The original urban-fantasy romance novel I started as a creative writing thesis in grad school needs to be finished. It’s sitting at 50 pages. I was hoping to use it to shop around for a literary agent. I don’t know if I will use it for that now or not. Working title: There Sleeps Titania.

After these are done, I will start the epic space opera that’s been brewing in my head for years. As a fan of Star Trek since childhood, I’ve always wanted to write a space opera.

This doesn’t mean I won’t be working on other things along with these, but these are the big ones.

Which of these are you most looking forward to?

COMING SOON – ‘The Worlds of Nathan Marchand, Vol. 2: Tales of the Lost and Lonely’

This summer (and hopefully before Gen-Con), I plan to release another short story collection that will be titled The Worlds of Nathan Marchand, Vol. 2: Tales of the Lost and Lonely. It’ll be another anthology of unpublished stories spanning my entire writing career, from college to today (well, close enough).

Unlike in Volume 1, these stories won’t be speculative fiction (with one possible exception), but many will involve “nerdy” things. For example, the flagship story involves a young man in a small town trying to return a collectible Superman cape he found in a dumpster on Christmas Eve. You may recognize some of the stories because many were once available on this very website.

As with Volume 1, I’m including short intros for each story that explains their origins. Some stories were written for college classes; others were the products of prompts from a writers group I used to attend.

Currently, my sister, Sarah, is editing the book and working on a photographic cover. Once those are done, it will be in print quickly.

Stay tuned for more updates!

But I Digress… x MIFV: A Conversation with Author, Musician, and Nerdy Girl Alyssa Charpentier

I sit down with the multitalented Alyssa Charpentier, who wears enough proverbial hats to fill a warehouse. She’s a writer, a musician, a Navy sailor, a former Godzilla YouTuber, and hardcore nerd girl, among other things. We discuss her past and current creative projects, her best advice for aspiring writers, and more, including her serialized Godzilla fanfiction, Strange Flesh, which is exclusive to her Patreon page.

Join Alyssa’s Patreon page to read Godzilla: Strange Flesh!

Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts, The Henshin Men and The Power Trip, and Henshin Power V3!

We’d like to give a shout-out to our MIFV MAX patrons Danny DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project); Damon Noyes, The Cel Cast, TofuFury, Eric Anderson of Nerd Chapel, Redeemed Otaku Podcast, Wynja the Ninja, Christopher Riner, The Indiscrite One, Eli Harris, Jake Hambrick, Matt Walsh (but not that Matt Walsh), Jonathan Courtright, Leon Campbell, Michael Watson, and Sam Allred! Thanks for your support!

You, too, can join MIFV MAX on Patreon to get this and other perks starting at only $3 a month! (https://www.patreon.com/monsterislandfilmvault)

Buy official MIFV merch on TeePublic! (https://www.teepublic.com/user/the-monster-island-gift-shop). NEW MERCH NOW AVAILABLE!

This episode is approved by the Monster Island Board of Directors.

Podcast Social Media:

MIFV Linktree: https://linktr.ee/monsterislandfilmvaultNate’s Linktree: https://linktr.ee/nathan_marchandMIFV is a member of PodNation (https://podnation.tv/)MIFV is one of Feedspot’s top 10 tokusatsu podcasts! (https://blog.feedspot.com/tokusatsu_podcasts/)MIFV is one of Feedspot’s top 20 monster podcasts! (https://podcasts.feedspot.com/monster_podcasts/)

www.MonsterIslandFilmVault.com

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© 2025 Moonlighting Ninjas Media

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Is It Fantastic? | Nathan REACTS to Fantastic 4: First Steps TRAILER | Marvel Cinematic Universe

I’m back with another superhero movie trailer reaction! This time it’s for a Marvel production: namely, Fantastic 4: First Steps. I have opinions because I’m the voice of Johnny Storm for  Scyther Podcasts . What’d I think of it? Watch and find out! (FYI: Streamyard cut the sound from the trailer. That was on me).​

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But I Digress…, Episode 50: Can Critics Create Art? (Ft. Ryan “The Omni Viewer” Collins”)

WHEN: January 16, 2025 at 7pm EST.

Nathan relaunches “But I Digress…” (again) as a monthly livestream! For episode 50, he’s joined by fellow author/actor/content creator Ryan “The Omni Viewer” Collins to discuss whether or not critics can create good art. They know how the proverbial sausage is made, but can they actually cook, so to speak? Join Nathan and Ryan to see if they can answer that question.

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TRAILER REACTION: Superman (2025) Teaser | James Gunn, You Beatiful Bastard!

The much-hyped teaser trailer for James Gunn’s Superman (2025) has dropped. So, I made an impromptu reaction video for it. You all know I love Superman, but I’ve felt ambivalent toward most Superman media from the last decade, including the early teaser images for this film. But after watching the trailer…well, let’s just say I’m excited that I may have an excuse to discuss it on my flagship podcast, The Monster Island Film Vault.

Find my websites and socials on my Linktree: https://linktr.ee/nathan_marchand

MIFV website: www.MonsterIslandFilmVault.com.

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What I’m Thankful For (2024)

I’ll be honest, I haven’t had the best year. It wasn’t a disastrous year, but it wasn’t great, either. I’m all for gratitude, but unfortunately, too many people in Christian circles seem to equate gratitude with complacency. Wanting more is seen as problematic. Or rather, improving one’s place is seen as unholy.

Regardless, I will do my best to list as many of the things I’m thankful for this year as I can. That is the point of Thanksgiving, isn’t it?

God the Father.Jesus Christ.The Holy Spirit.The Bible.My church.My church’s pastors.My apartment.The Fort Wayne Ballroom Company.My substitute teaching job (as much as I hate it).My recent dental work.Dental insurance.My college friends circle.My fandom/podcast friends circle.My parents.My siblings.My laptop.My iPhone.The data the data recovery service was able to find (even though it wasn’t nearly as much as they said they could).The Monster Island Film Vault (my flagship podcast)Henshin Power V3 (my other podcast)My co-hosts and guest hosts on said podcasts.The Kaiju Lovers (MIFV fans)Henshin Power V3 listeners.My readers.The rest of my fans.G-Fest.Gen-Con.The other cons I attended.Kaiju United.TokUSA.My other publishers.My physical media collection.My book/comic library.My toy collection.That I live in America.That I live in Indiana.That I live in Fort Wayne.That I was able to produce my first full-length audiodrama episode, “Origins: Rito Bandora” for Scyther Inc.That I’m a member of Scyther’s actor stable.That I play Rito for Scyther.That I play Deadpool for Scyther.That I play Johnny Storm for Scyther.That I get asked to play those characters for other people.That I’m a published author.My author website.My MIFV website.My board games collection.My video game collection.My car.All the artists I know, especially if we’ve collaborated.The Constitution.The comic shops I frequent.My Patreon supporters.Electricity.Running water.Internet service.My bookshelves.The family pets.Tax refunds.Music.Dance.Bicycles.Roller rinks.Bookstores.Coffee shops.Laser tag.Arcades.The police.Military members.Veterans.The gym.My degrees.Indoor plumbing.That I can read.My past podcasts (Henshin Men and The Power Trip).Groceries.Pretzels.Pizza.Spaghetti.Protein shakes.Energy drinks (especially Ghost).My nephews and niece.Camping.C.S. Lewis.J.R.R. Tolkien.Stan Lee.My other favorite authors.Canva.Audacity.MS Word.Birthday gifts.Christmas.Hosting Scyther’s Power Rangers aftershows.Being part of Scyther’s Ranger Reviews.Podcasts.Audiobooks.My published books.Being part of Wild Hunt Press.Shameless self-promotion.GODZILLA MINUS ONE!

What are you thankful for this year? Comment below.

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